Obama closes the White House tours that were run by VOLUNTEERS. He's blaming it on the Sequester

The White House has canceled tours until further notice, the White House Visitors Office confirmed, citing sequester cuts.

Tours will continue through Friday, March 8. All tours for March 9 and onward have been canceled and will not be rescheduled due to “staffing reductions resulting from sequestration,” the office says.
“We very much regret having to take this action, particularly during the popular Spring touring season,” the office’s statement reads.
Some Republicans are skeptical.

“They just jumped the sharquester,” said John Hart, a spokesman for Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.). Coburn has long highlighted ways the federal government could cut back on what he considers needless spending. But in this case, he’s opposed to the White House’s decision.
“It’s clearly a PR ploy,” Hart said. “They can tour the country on the taxpayer’s dime but can’t allow taxpayers to tour the White House? Seriously?”
Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), agreed. “This decision appears to be purely political in nature rather than being in the best interest of the American people,” he said in a letter to Obama.
The White House has been highlighting cuts from the sequester in order to put pressure on congressional Republicans to compromise on ending tax loopholes.
“We are going to manage it as best we can, try to minimize the impacts on American families, but it’s not the right way for us to go about deficit reduction,” President Obama said Monday.
Not every administration claim has held up. Our Factchecker dinged Education Secretary Arne Duncan for saying over the weekend that teachers are already being laid off thanks to the sequester, and Obama himself for saying janitors in the Capitol will get a pay cut.
House Republicans introduced a bill Monday that would avoid a government shutdown at the end of the month and shift some spending cuts while leaving in place the $85 billion spending reduction that went into effect March 1.http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...-to-sequester/

In his new book, At the Brink, economist and author John Lott Jr., assesses the presidency of Barack Obama and recalls conversations regarding gun laws they had while working at the University of Chicago.

In Chapter Three, Mr. Lott discusses gun-control and takes the reader back to his time at the University of Chicago, where he and then-professor Barack Obama spoke on numerous occasions about guns in America.

"I don't believe people should be able to own guns," Obama told Lott one day at the University of Chicago Law School.

Lott explains that he first met Obama shortly after completing his research on concealed handgun laws and crime.

"He did not come across as a moderate who wanted to bring people together," Lott writes.

After he introduced himself to Obama, Lott suggested that they have lunch one day to discuss their views on guns. According to Lott, Obama "grimaced and turned away." That was the way many conversations with Obama ended, Lott says.

Although the Law School was famous for the openness of its faculty and friendly engagement, Lott says, "Obama...preferred silent, scowling disdain to collegiality."

President Barack Obama describes his views on guns much differently now that he is on the national stage, Lott believes, pointing to an interview on Fox News in which Obama states, "I have said consistently that I believe that the Second Amendment is an individual right."

But, Lott isn't convinced:

"Despite his assurance to Fox News that he understands the Second Amendment, it's a good bet that the positions Obama took on guns during his time at Chicago reveal his true convictions."

The chapter documents the actions that Obama has taken on guns, citing the following:

In 1996, Obama supported a ban on handguns
In 1998, he supported a ban on the sale of all semi-automatic guns
In 2004, he advocated banning gun sales within five miles of a school or park, which would have shut down nearly all gun stores

Mr. Lott concludes the chapter, titled, "Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered," writing, "Barack Obama is the most anti-gun president ever. That claim is based not on my own interactions with him back in the 1990's but on his own public record over many years."

He ends with a warning:

"The greatest threat is in his [Obama's] power to reshape the federal courts...Each appointment to the Supreme Court could determine whether the people are allowed to keep their guns."

I want the sequester to go on until barry and madam ngu have to take a vacation together, and barry can't bring his boy toy, reggie love.

I'm sure you do.

The man has been reelected convincingly despite the Right's relentless obstructions, shamelessly over the top accusations propagated by Sean Limbecks of the world and perpetuated by countless unthinking drones like you. I know it burns your ass, shitsprayer.

With all that burning and all the alcohol in your system please be careful lest you'll be the next case of Spontaneous Human Combustion we'll read about.

The man has been reelected convincingly despite the Right's relentless obstructions, shamelessly over the top accusations propagated by Sean Limbecks of the world and perpetuated by countless unthinking drones like you. I know it burns your ass, shitsprayer.

With all that burning and all the alcohol in your system please be careful lest you'll be the next case of Spontaneous Human Combustion we'll read about.

You should be happy, Flunkie. yet, you are a bitter old hag holed up in your dingy apartment with your cats.

You asked two questions... What about the people being paid to work security and where is the link showing the people giving tours are volunteers.

There you go.

No where in that link does it say people giving the tour are volunteers.

For the record, I never said they weren't volunteers, although I did question it, and no one has actually produced anything showing that they actually are volunteers. I did say that it strikes me as incorrect that White House tours do not involve paid employees.

__________________

Quote:

Reporter: "I guess the question is: Why should Americans trust you when you accuse the information they receive as being fake, when you're providing information that is not accurate?"

TRUMP: "Well, I was given that information. I was, actually, I've seen that information around.

You should be happy, Flunkie. yet, you are a bitter old hag holed up in your dingy apartment with your cats.

Ooooh,... My son, my wife, my brothers, niece and nephew and a big circle of friends from my son's age to my own beg to differ. But stay stupid my friend. Just heed what I said about the burning ass and the amount of alcohol in you. You'll thank me for it someday, ya hopeless lush.

An automated message at the visitor center's hotline informed callers of the news on Tuesday.

"Due to staffing reductions resulting from sequestration we regret to inform that White House tours will be canceled effective Saturday March 9, 2013 until further notice," the message said. "Unfortunately we will not be able to reschedule affected tours."

A White House spokesman said this is the first consequence of the forced budget cuts on the White House. The reductions will hit Secret Service staffing and staffing at the visitors office that processes the names of tour participants.

Below is the email sent to lawmakers on Capitol Hill:

ATTN Interested Parties,

Due to staffing reductions resulting from sequestration, we regret to inform you that White House Tours will be canceled effective Saturday, March 9, 2013 until further notice. Unfortunately, we will not be able to reschedule affected tours.

We very much regret having to take this action, particularly during the popular spring touring season. For updates regarding this situation, please contact the White House Visitors Office 24 Hour Hotline at (202) 456-7041.

Sincerely,

White House Visitors Office

Max Milien, a spokesman for the Secret Service, said officers normally assigned to tours will be reassigned to other security posts at the White House.

"This staffing measure will reduce overtime costs overall and may ultimately reduce the number of potential furloughs necessary by our agency," Milien said.

The Secret Service has been developing a plan to deal with the cuts and maintains that the agency's protective duties will not be affected, according to a Secret Service official.

Public, self-guided tours of the White House's East Wing are generally offered Tuesday through Saturday. Visitors can get tickets from their representative in Congress, and if they're lucky, they may even run into the president or first lady, who've both been known to personally greet visitors on occasion.

Hoping to reverse the decision, Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, submitted an amendment to the continuing resolution that would prohibit the president from using federal funds to transport to or from a golf course until the White House resumes public tours.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich echoed that call on Twitter: "Canceling white house tours is childish and dishonest-the golf weekend in Florida cost enough to keep the white house open for months."

As he returned to the White House Tuesday after visiting wounded veterans at a Washington hospital, President Barack Obama did not respond to shouted questions about the tours being canceled.

No where in that link does it say people giving the tour are volunteers.

For the record, I never said they weren't volunteers, although I did question it, and no one has actually produced anything showing that they actually are volunteers. I did say that it strikes me as incorrect that White House tours do not involve paid employees.

The link is a direct explanation of becoming a volunteer for the President's Park and White House tours. The volunteers are trained by National Park Rangers and Rangers sometimes step up to evaluate the volunteers while they conduct the tour, but not always.

This was done deliberately as an act of aggression against the Republicans. Tours are set up by Representatives and Senators. They have to answer to the public who are denied. And he gave no indication he was going to cancel the tours in advance, so those that were already approved for tour must leave Washington DC from all over the country disappointed. If only he had not taken a 7th or 8th vacation with the upcoming sequestration a few weeks ago, I am sure they could have "afforded" the tours.

It is a petty act by a selfish vain man.

__________________How strangely will the Tools of a Tyrant pervert the plain Meaning of Words!
Samuel Adams

The link is a direct explanation of becoming a volunteer for the President's Park and White House tours. The volunteers are trained by National Park Rangers and Rangers sometimes step up to evaluate the volunteers while they conduct the tour, but not always.

No, it isn't. Not that link. It does talk about volunteering to decorate the White House.

__________________

Quote:

Reporter: "I guess the question is: Why should Americans trust you when you accuse the information they receive as being fake, when you're providing information that is not accurate?"

TRUMP: "Well, I was given that information. I was, actually, I've seen that information around.